


I'll be dreaming of you tonight

by breakmystrings



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-05 09:02:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14040789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakmystrings/pseuds/breakmystrings
Summary: It’s something Auston can appreciate, and it’s something that Auston works on, navigating the hundred and one different Mitch Marner Moods.Or, five times Auston deals with Mitch's (irrational?) emotions.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Something short I wrote for my Tumblr last night ([here](https://breakmystrings.tumblr.com/post/172056721655/you-know-something-i-love-that-somehow-i-dont)). Mostly because I love face touching and I don't seem to write enough of it in my fics :)

**Anger**

Auston’s known since day one that Mitch Marner can be A Lot. But it’s usually in a good way, the way he gets too enthusiastic about things and laughs too hard at jokes that don’t make sense, or the faces he pulls when someone says something that pisses him off; he’s as transparent as an open book. It’s something Auston can appreciate, and it’s something that Auston works on, navigating the hundred and one different Mitch Marner Moods. It’s not easy, but Auston is nothing if not persistent.

One morning, when Auston arrives to pick Mitch up for practice, he’s greeted with a scowling Mitch. He storms into the car, slams the door, and glares at Auston the entire way to the rink. Now, Auston isn’t always the most observant of dudes, but he’d like to think that he’d know if he’s done something to royally piss of his best friend. Like, Mitch is staring at him like he set his favourite stick on fire and told him he was a waste of a first round pick and insulted his mom, all at once.

Auston opens his mouth to broach the topic, but decides to shut up and keep driving. Mitch looks like he might actually punch him, a little wild around the eyes, and staring straight ahead of him, like even _glancing_ at Auston is too much.

Once they’re on the ice, Mitch takes hard slap shots towards the net. More specifically, he’s banking them off Auston’s ass and into the net. Auston’s not sure if he should be grateful or not that he’s not aiming for his face.

When practice is over, Mitch makes huffy faces at Auston when he asks him what’s wrong. He reminds Auston of an angry kitten, all scrunched up nose and head upturned, a little too snooty and probably too hilarious for Auston to take seriously, but he knows better than to laugh. He coughs awkwardly to disguise it, but Mitch narrows his eyes even more at him and Auston tries to put on the most sincere smile he can.

“Dream Auston knows what he did," Mitch says and then promptly storms off.

Jesus, Auston is going to need to give Dream Auston a talking to.

**Bashful**

Sometimes, Mitch dreams and wakes up with that visceral feeling he can’t separate from reality. Often, they’re about the team (winning, losing, tears of happiness, tears of pain), but even more frequently, they’re about Auston. Auston would be happy about that if they weren’t disproportionately negative, like Auston pissed in his cereal or something. It’s not like Auston has any real control over them either, but that doesn’t stop Mitch from reacting as if Real Auston drew them up in his head for him.

Today though, the emotions are coming through in waves of sudden shyness, averting eye contact and looking away the second they do meet. He’s blushing, _so much_. Like, looking at Auston has suddenly become _too much_. As if maintaining eye contact for a brief moment is enough for Mitch’s face to go beautifully pink and his mouth dropping open to make a perfect “o”, flinching back like he’s stunned, and Auston wants so badly to know _what_ Dream Auston was up to last night to turn Mitch into a pile of mush with a simple look.

**Worry**

Auston is the first to admit that the non-stop injuries are starting to get to his confidence. Like, no one wants to be the guy that’s labelled “injury-prone” this early on in their career. Auston still needs to show the world he’s worth that first overall pick, and he felt like he was well on that track until he kept crashing back down to the realities of this punishing league. It’s fucking disheartening, that’s what it is.

Still, he makes sure to take it easy and give his body time to fully recover. Keeps working on his lower body strength and listens to all the trainers and doctors. He stays home, rests, and plays way more Fortnite than is probably healthy. The injury isn’t the worst of it, it’s the boredom.

Weeks later, he feels his body finally get back on track. He’s at least ninety-percent of the way back to perfect health, which is a hell of a lot better than the rest of the team that’s playing _now_ , but with the way Mitch fusses, it’s like he thinks Auston is dying.

“Do you need another glass of water?”

“:Let me fluff that pillow for you.”

“You look a little peckish, let me get you more soup.”

“You feel cold, want another blanket? You want another blanket.”

“I’m _fine,_ stop worrying!” The fussing is mostly endearing, and it makes Auston feel warm and fuzzy all over to know Mitch cares so much, but like Mitch at his best (and worst) of times, it’s _too much_.

Mitch bites down on his lower lip, shifting his weight from foot-to-foot, restless and uneasy, like he needs to be doing _something_.

“Dream Auston said the same thing,” Mitch says, and the words after come out so fast that Auston barely has time to register them. All he hears is _lying_ and _hurt_ and _career-ending_ , and that’s more than enough to piece together what Mitch is trying to say.

He’s not thinking too hard about it when he tugs Mitch in with his good arm and tucks him into his side. Mitch comes easily, snuggling in close to his side but careful, _always_ careful, of Auston’s injured shoulder, hands staying on his side. He's basically cuddling with his best friend at this point but a) they're hockey players and b) everyone knows the best pain reliever is cuddles so whatever. Auston nuzzles his cheek against the top of Mitch’s head and tries to reassure him in the best way he knows.

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Auston says softly, and that’s enough to make Mitch settle.

**Sadness**

Auston doesn’t hear from Mitch on their day off. At _all_ , which is strange enough for Auston to get off his ass and make his way over. He uses the key Mitch gave him (“for emergencies _only_ ” but this totally counts as one) and let’s himself in. The apartment is dark, the curtains not drawn and only the glow from the TV flashing “Game Over” lights up living room enough for Auston to make out the lump that’s Mitch on the couch. He’s got his hood pulled up so Auston can’t see his face, but he can hear the quiet sniffles.

“Hey, thought we were going to hang today?” Auston asks, keeping his voice calm and even, like he’s trying to calm a spooked horse, but it comes out a lot louder than he intended in the silence of the apartment. “You feeling okay?”

Mitch takes a deep breath, but when he exhales, it’s shaky and rough, like he's been crying, and Auston nearly stumbles in his haste to get closer. Mitch doesn’t move even when Auston is right in front of him, but Auston would have to be blind not to see the tears streaking down his face.

Auston crouches down immediately to look up at Mitch’s, to try and meet those normally bright blue, cheery eyes that now look gloomy and grey and sad now, and Auston _aches_ with the need to reach out and touch him, to pull him in and comfort him, but he doesn’t know if that’s what Mitch wants right now.

“What’s wrong?” Auston asks. He can’t hide the alarm in his voice, the worry and concern laced in every syllable. “Did something happen?”

Mitch wipes at his face with his sleeve, but more tears fall when he meets Auston’s eyes. Auston’s heart _aches_ at the sight of Mitch right now, like someone just shoved their hands into his chest and _squeezes_ it with all their strength.

Mitch opens his mouth, but the only sound that comes out is a weak sob.

“Mitchy, please, tell me what’s wrong so I can help you.”

“You can’t,” Mitch says, his voice barely above a whisper, and he sounds so fucking _sad_ , like it physically pains him to say anything at all, like the words are being dragged out of him as easily as swallowing shards of broken glass.

“Let me try,” Auston pleads, and he finally reaches out to touch Mitch carefully on the arms and he slides his hands up and down when Mitch doesn’t pull away, when he _leans_ into it instead.

Mitch closes his eyes and a fresh set of tears falls down his face. Auston reaches out to wipe them away with the side of his hands, and he cups his face gently in a gesture that feels much too intimate for friends, like he might be crossing that line he’s wanted to for so long.

“You broke my heart,” Mitch says softly, barely audible, but Auston hears him, and it takes everything in him not to flinch back when he does. "You left."

“I wouldn’t,” Auston whispers back. There’s not a lot of things he’s certain about, but his feelings for Mitch, he’s never felt more sure about someone in his life. In all of his fantasies, when he allows himself to think about it, his fears have always been Mitch walking away. The thought of _Auston_ being the one to leave, it’s almost inconceivable. 

“You did,” Mitch insists, and Auston can’t stand how sad and broken up he is over this, over something that didn’t happen, even if it probably felt too real.

“I promise, I won’t,” Auston says, and he looks right into Mitch’s eyes as he leans in, gives him all the time in the world to pull away if Auston’s somehow misread this completely, but when the hope creeps into Mitch’s eyes, like the sun breaking through the grey clouds and the blue sky comes through, Auston closes the distance between them and presses a careful kiss on Mitch’s lips.

Dream Auston is the best and worst thing to ever happen to him.

**Love**

Auston wakes up to the feeling of someone’s fingers on his face, tracing the line of his nose with a gentle, barely there touch. It tickles, and he has to scrunch up his nose to ease the itch, but he can't help smiling sleepily when his eyes meet Mitch’s, much too bright for this early in the morning.

“Hi,” Mitch says, his voice rough with sleep. His eyes are crinkly from his smile, and his fingers don’t stop tracing random patterns on Auston’s face, like he’s trying to track and memorize every single curve and angle. It feels almost too intimate, so different from sex and sharing every good and bad memory to each other in the middle of the night. It makes Auston feel vulnerable, but in the best possible way, because he _trusts_ Mitch to take care of him.

Auston lets Mitch keep doing whatever he’s doing for a while, gets his fill of staring at Mitch while Mitch follows the path his fingers take, but he can’t help reaching out to touch Mitch too. He reaches out to slide his fingers through Mitch’s hair, soft and fluffy and sticking up everywhere from passing out right away after their shower together last night, and he scratches his scalp in the way he knows Mitch loves. He practically _purrs_ from the touch.

“What kind of dream did you have?” Auston asks when Mitch seems to be done his tracing, and he actually really wants to know for once so that he can get Mitch looking at him the same way forever, like he’s the greatest thing he’s ever laid eyes on.

Mitch’s smile goes soft and warm, so different from the wide, toothy smile Auston’s accustomed to seeing.

“Don’t remember,” Mitch says, stroking Auston’s cheek with his thumb before he leans in to kiss Auston sweetly on the lips.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to [Your Song by Rita Ora](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i95Nlb7kiPo) on the radio a lot and I just really wanted to write something full of sap and then that cute video of Mitch dancing was all the last extra push I needed (I love dancing/singing shamelessly). Cleaned this up up a bit from my Tumblr post [here](https://breakmystrings.tumblr.com/post/172173699655/breakmystrings-you-know-something-i-love-that)

**Elation**

Auston wakes up alone in bed, the sheets cool to the touch next to him, but he can hear Mitch singing (terribly) down the hall, probably dancing too, to some pop song that sounds vaguely familiar; he has to hide his smile into his pillow when Mitch starts bellowing. It’s ridiculous, but there’s a lot about Mitch that’s ridiculous, and Auston just feels endlessly fond of him when he thinks about it. Even when he gets woken up in the middle of the night because he just got smacked right in the face with a pillow because Dream Auston was a dick to Mitch again.

He lays around in bed for a few more minutes before he forces himself up. He grabs a pair of sweats and a t-shirt out of the drawers before cleaning up in the bathroom.

Mitch is still singing and dancing when Auston wanders into the kitchen. He’s wearing one of Auston’s old t-shirts, drowning in it really, and Auston feels warm all over at how comfortable Mitch looks in his space, how he just _fits_.

Mitch does a full twirl before moving the frying pan full of eggs to another burner.

Auston rolls his eyes, fond, and when Mitch finally sees him, there’s no other way to describe it, his face just lights up. His smile stretches wide and beautiful across his face, his eyes as bright and blue as ever, and he bounces on his feet a little before giving Auston a sloppy kiss on his lips.

“Mmm…” Mitch hums, sounding much too pleased as he leans in for another kiss. And another. “You brushed your teeth.”

Auston feels his cheeks warm, and he kisses Mitch again instead of acknowledging the fact that he only did it so that Mitch wouldn’t complain about morning breath.

Another song starts on Mitch’s playlist, and he takes Auston’s hands in each of his own and tries to get him to dance. Auston resists, digging his feet in for all of two seconds and trying not to laugh at the way Mitch struggles to get him to bend to his will, before he gives in easily. He should be embarrassed of how easy he is for Mitch, but mostly, it just makes him smile helplessly as he lets Mitch lead him with a hand on his waist.

What they’re doing, it’s not really dancing so much as simply shifting their weight from foot to foot, and swaying to the beat of the music. Mitch doesn’t seem to care though, he’s smiling way too much like he’s having fun anyway, and Auston would do a lot worse to keep him looking this happy, _always_.

Mitch hums along to the song, and the lyrics are sappy and Auston would laugh if he didn’t feel the same way.

_I found my heart up in this place tonight, don’t want to sing mad songs anymore, only want to sing your song[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i95Nlb7kiPo)_

Mitch steps back and tries to twirl Auston. He pulls their hands up high above their heads and Auston has to duck a little to fit under the arch their arms create. He’s laughing when Mitch decides he’s had enough dancing and just smothers Auston with a hug instead. His arms are pulled tight around Auston’s waist and he rests his head on his shoulder.

“You’re happy this morning,” Auston says, and he rearranges Mitch’s arms so that he can comfortably loop his own around Mitch’s shoulders.

Mitch feels so warm in his arms. Auston can’t help pressing a kiss to the top of Mitch’s head and then nuzzling his face into his soft, fluffy hair against his cheek.

“I had a good dream last night,” Mitch says softly.

“Yeah? About what?” Auston asks.

“We were dancing,” Mitch starts, “and all of our families were there watching us. The team was there too. And everyone was so happy for us.

“It was summer and really warm, so we got rid of our suit jackets pretty quick. You were a mess, your hair was all over the place, but you were smiling a lot, that big happy one. I felt like we were on top of the world.”

Auston feels warm all over, the heat rushing to his face as the thoughts create the most beautiful image in his head, the kind of picture he only lets himself fantasize about occasionally, with Mitch and him standing in front of an altar and promising forever. Mitch will probably cry, and Auston will probably make fun of him but he’ll be teary too when Mitch says his vows, and suddenly, that’s all Auston _wants_. He _wants_ that future he fantasized about, the one Mitch dreamed of and made him wake up deliriously happy and so in love, and Auston wants nothing more than to give that to Mitch, every single day for the rest of their lives.

It take a while, but when Auston can find his voice again, he says, “The ceremony will be outside and Winston and Nala will carry the rings. And there’ll be a big party afterwards, because you love people and crowds, and we’ll get so drunk off the champagne and the shots with the team, but the hangovers will be worth it because we’ll have forever after.”

Mitch chuckles, but it sounds watery and rough, and he tucks his face into Auston’s shoulder, like he wants to hide his face.

“I can’t wait.”

Auston can’t either.


End file.
